By Wándé T. Àjàyí
Naturally, one would think that after the long months of political drama and the eventual swearing-in of Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa as the substantive Governor of Ondo State, we would finally see focused leadership. Instead, what we are witnessing is a new brand of cosmetic governance and a total disregard for the Nigerian Constitution.
Section 192 subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, clearly states that a Governor must appoint commissioners within sixty (60) days of taking the oath of office. Not when convenient. Not when the political weather is right. Sixty days. It is a constitutional command, not a suggestion for discussion in future meetings. Yet the Governor has comfortably moved past the deadline like a man avoiding a family meeting he knows he is guilty in.
Even more curious is the position of the Attorney General of the state, Dr Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. One would expect the learned silk to raise a red flag and remind his boss of this important obligation. Instead, the Attorney General appears content watching the theatre unfold, perhaps being in office supersedes the weight of constitutional duty. If the chief law officer cannot whisper the law into the Governor’s ears, who then will?
Equally troubling is the silence of members of the Ondo State House of Assembly. These are supposed representatives of the people, many of whose constituencies are already being sidelined in appointments and governance. Yet not a word, not even a whimper. They sit comfortably in the chamber, endorsing silence like a rubber-stamping machine on auto mode. If those elected to speak truth to power prefer to fold their arms and watch governance slide into constitutional delinquency, then the people must begin to ask who exactly they are representing.
A state without a cabinet is not a mark of efficiency. It is a sign of power concentrated in some hands, and those hands are yet to prove that they understand governance. Ondo State deserves better. Governance is not a one-man show and the law is not a buffet from which you pick only what pleases you. The people are watching, and we will never forget.
